Estevao may be good to be held back, despite Enzo Maresca’s brave efforts | OneFootball

This is a syndication of the article originally published for the BBC, here.

It was in May 2024 that the first links between Chelsea and Estevao Willian started to be reported. A deal to sign him the following summer was soon concluded, and since then Blues fans have waited patiently to see him unleashed. They can’t wait much longer.

Fans’ demands for talent on the pitch rise

Estevao trains his headers. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

Supporters have been tracking the youngster ever since those first rumours, and the excitement has continued to build. Some really special moments – a first Brazil goal, scoring against Chelsea in the Club World Cup, some ridiculous displays in the Brasilerao – kept raising expectations further, but it felt like the last minute winner against Liverpool in the final game before the international break was the 18 year old’s real coming out party.

TV pundits around the world showered him with praise post-match and he took his first major step from highly rated talent to household name, at least in footballing circles.

As talents go, you almost couldn’t design one better to get supporters excited. A pure one on one dribbler who isn’t afraid to shoot and has the natural movement and instincts of a goalscorer, Estevao looks utterly fearless despite his age. The much repeated lines about needing to be patient with him and his development are made to look faintly ridiculous by just how confident and capable he is already.

Maresca has his work cut out protecting youngster

Manager Enzo Maresca is doing his best to protect the prodigy, but there is only so much he can do when the Estevao continues to make such important impressions from the bench. For now, fans will be content to see him arrive as a game-breaking roll of the dice in the second half of games. But if he keeps looking so much more dangerous than his rivals for minutes on the wing, it will only be a matter of time before the coach has little choice but to give him regular starts.

Will Faulks @willfaulks